American takes third place in Red Bull Air Race championship behind two British pilots

JERSEY CITY — Paul Bonhomme sprayed Kirby Chambliss with champagne. Chambliss’ face turned bright red, and he rubbed his eyes, but it was a small burden to suffer in exchange for standing on the winner’s podium at Red Bull Air Race World Championships at Liberty State Park today.

As Chambliss recovered from his eye irritation, he held up his third-place trophy with a gold plaque and clear, glass apple with the New York Skyline etched on it — symbolizing the race’s waterfront location in Jersey City.

"As a race pilot it’s always special to race on home soil, especially when it’s right under the Statue of Liberty," Chambliss said. "But I tried to push that all out and focus on getting from gate to gate the fastest."

A crushed pylon resulting in a two-second penalty by an Austrian pilot propelled Chambliss, from Massachusetts, into third place on the fifth leg of the Red Bull Air Race World tour.

Chambliss was joined by the champion, Bonhomme, of the United Kingdom, and fellow British pilot Nigel Lamb, who placed second, on the podium.

Chambliss raced second and his chances of placing in the top three seemed to have been eliminated when Bohnomme blazed the track in 1:10.01. Things seemed even bleaker when Austrian pilot Hannes Arch flew through the first checkpoint ahead of Bonhomme. Then, Arch’s plane struck the right pylon forming gate eight, and the finish line, smacking him with a two-second penalty and putting Arch in fourth place. He fell short of being the first pilot to ever win four races in a row and allowed Bonhomme to distance himself in the lead by five points going into the mid-season break

"I was aiming for consistency with my times," said Bonhomme, who sat on his 12th-straight podium. "I could have probably shaved off another half of a second, but that would have been a risk. A lot of speed may win races, but it doesn’t win championships."

Earlier in the day, the hot and humid weather plagued the pilots and their engines from performing at full-speed. But that didn’t stop the crowd 75,000 from enjoying the Red Bull skydivers and the pilots’ twists, turns and upside-down barrel maneuvers over the Hudson River.

As the field dwindled down to eight and then four pilots, Bonhomme gained speed and the rest of the crew followed suit, except for Arch who made the crucial mistake in the Final 4.

Chambliss’ entrance speed into the course of 223 mph and time of 1:12.09 was good enough for third only after Arch’ penalty, setting him up for glory in his home country.

"After the Final 4 race, you can only see your own time, we don’t get to heat the others and when I saw 1:12, I thought ‘that’s not going to do it,’" said Chambliss. "I really didn’t want to disappoint anyone by not being on the podium. But leave it to one of these guys to hit a pylon and give it to you. Thanks again, Hannes (Arch)."